#68 Weigh 130 pounds: the second 5 pounds

Hello friends!  If you missed "the first 5 pounds" you're welcome to read it here.  It gives a little background info (e.g. I weighed in at 160 in July, freaked out, and decided to post with every 5 pounds I lose).  And today I weighed in at 150.5!  I'm not going to fiddle with tenths of a pound, so I'm posting now.

Here's a little update since the first five pounds... it was really hard to exercise discipline while eating normal foods.  I had a hard time changing my mindset to "I'm eating healthy now...therefore I'm not going to eat this treat."  There is a LOT of social eating where I live, and I have to admit I've instigated a fair amount of it myself.  I like people, I like food, and I don't think twice.

Mmm

So I needed a little more radical change to really help me change my mindset and habits.  After weeks of deliberation, I decided to try the "diet" (even though that word has a negative connotation) my roommate is doing.  It's worked great for her, and I've watched it happen.  The program is Take Shape For Life, and it uses MediFast products.  I eat 5 of their meals per day and one "lean and green" meal (lean meat + green veggies).  They also educate you on a healthy lifestyle that you can maintain after the weight loss phase.  Before starting I went to the fitness office at my college and had my body fat professionally tested.  I love numbers, so that'll be fun for me to know how that number changes, and I'll do it again toward the end so I know when to stop.  I also had a milkshake the night before I started. yup.  :)

I just finished my first week!  Was it hard? Yeah.  The first three days I had horrible headaches (a painful reminder of my sugar addiction).  I was hungry-ish for the first 5, as my stomach shrunk to accommodate smaller portion sizes.  And speaking of shrinking, I've noticed a difference in myself!  I can feel it, see it, and my clothes fit differently!

This is nice...but I'm glad it isn't true in my case!  

Beyond changing the way I eat, I've also been exercising.  I'm actually pretty excited about the plan I've developed.  On Monday, Thursday, Saturday I run, using the three target runs from the book Run Less, Fun Faster.  Tuesdays I bike for an hour, Wednesday is an hour of yoga, and Friday is 40 minutes of swimming - all with different work out buddies!  It's great!  And motivating.  I'm super proud of myself because I've always wanted to swim and do yoga, and never have.  I love biking, but often don't make it happen on my own.  Now I just need to figure out when I'm going to incorporate strength training.

This.  Is true.  It = my body and it = working out. :)

Week 1: down 6.1 pounds.  Not bad!  :D